As rules changes near, Franklin eager to implement Penn State's NIL plans
Signaling last week its thorough preparation and planning for new name, image, and likeness rules set to come to college athletics, Penn State is ready for the onset of new standards.
Still waiting for the parameter of the rules changes expected to allow college athletes to profit from entrepreneurial endeavors, including sponsorships and branding opportunities, the uncertainty nationally has not derailed a very specific approach for Penn State’s athletic department. And according to Nittany Lion football head coach James Franklin, though still awaiting the NCAA and federal government to create a uniform plan rather than the current piece-by-piece format currently taking shape, Penn State has its own opportunity at hand.
“I think we're waiting to get guidance from the NCAA. I think we're waiting to see how the state of Pennsylvania is going to handle that,” Franklin told BWI. “And I do wish we were a little bit more bold and aggressive and would just put a plan out like a lot of schools have and like a lot of universities have. ‘Hey, we're rolling and this is what we're doing.’ And then if things come out and we have to cut it back, let's cut it back.
“But (it’s about) being able to get out in front of it and say, ‘Hey, we got a great plan,’ which I think we do. But get it out there in front of it and get people excited about it, and being able to talk to recruits and families and our parents and the community.”
Coming off a week in which AD Sandy Barbour said at the virtual Coaches Caravan that Penn State’s “750,000 living alumni will be a huge advantage” as NIL rules go into effect, the messaging won’t be limited to opportunities for current and prospective players and their families.
Rather, aiming to integrate the local business community while simultaneously leveraging the breadth of Penn State’s massive alumni base, the Nittany Lions’ avenues toward capitalizing on their individual brands will require a cooperative effort.
“Work is going to have to be done of educating the people in the state of Pennsylvania and the businesses and all this on how it works and why,” Franklin said. “We've had a bunch of conversations with the (Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County)… about it because there's an aspect of education that needs to be understood. I think a lot of schools with history and tradition like Penn State, they're like, ‘We’ve never done that.’ Okay, well, we're going to need to do it because this is the new landscape.
“So I'd like to see us be a little bit more bold and aggressive, and then if we need to pull back, pull back. There's a lot of people putting plans out there, but it's not solidified because the NCAA could come out with something that doesn't align with that, or the federal government could come out with something that doesn't align with that.”
Still, expressing his confidence that the government and NCAA will step in to create a uniform system in which the widely varied approaches currently being employed by states - including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas, all of which are set to enact NIL legislation beginning July 1 - Franklin is optimistic for a coherent, organized plan in the future.
“From what I understand, a lot of places are trying to wait, including the NCAA, and hope that the federal government will step in and say, ‘This is what we're going to do.’ Again, from an NCAA perspective, trying to make it consistent. Every state is coming out with its own bill, and it's all over the map. And you really can't conduct yourself like that. I mean, it's all over the map,” Franklin said. “So, a lot of people, I think including the NCAA, are trying to wait for them to get with the federal government and say, ‘Okay, this is what we're going to do, and it's going to be the same across the board.’”
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